Best Works of Aubrey Beardsley

by Aubrey Beardsley

In the brief span of his life and career, Aubrey Beardsley (1872–98) galvanized public attention in 1890s London with his exotic renderings of subjects, which often projected the sensual and the grotesque. This splendid volume brings together the best of Beardsley's work — a rich selection ranging from illustrations for Laclos's Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Balzac's La Comédie Humaine to magazine cover designs, book plate silhouettes, title-page ornaments, and delightful mini-portraits of major composers. Also included are two photographs of the artist, consisting of private portrait studies by Frederick H. Evans.

Over 180 beautifully reproduced black-and-white plates capture the uniqueness of Beardsley's vision and reveal the seductive power of his art. Among the illustrations are brilliantly conceived vignettes from Le Morte D'arthur, Venus and Tannhäuser, Salome, and Lucian's True History as well as enchanting creations for The Yellow Book (an influential British arts quarterly), and much more.

Characterized by bold black masses, elongated shapes, and sensually provocative figures, these works are the product of a remarkable individual style that transformed the art of illustration. Reproduced here in an inexpensive high-quality format, they are certain to thrill not only Beardsley enthusiasts but anyone interested in the early years of modern graphic art.

A Dover Fine Art book.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, British Literature, 19th Century

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Highly individual black and white, often erotic drawings of British illustrator Aubrey Vincent Beardsley typified the art nouveau style.

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley identifies an English author. Japanese woodcuts influenced his executions in ink; he emphasized the grotesque, the decadent. This figure led in the aesthetic movement, which also included Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler. Beardsley significantly contributed to the development of the poster movement despite the brevity of his career before tuberculosis caused his early death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_...

Reviews

[Emma Sea · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a cheap book with a good range of Beardsley's work this is a winner.

The black ink varies in intensity, but only a few of the images in my copy were marginal. The paper is a pretty good quality for a budget line, although you do get some shadowing from the other page (see pic). The images are well-placed on the page with plenty of white space (also see pic).

Best of all, there's a variety of Beardsley's work; from book illustrations (including Salome & Mort d'Arthur), magazine illustrations, book covers, posters, a Christmas card etc.

It's a very good introduction to his work, and cheap enough you could happily let this loose amongst grabbyhands if you were teaching an art class.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clark is cutting; he's almost vicious in some of his prose. He certainly holds no prisoners. Beardsley's art has these qualities to it too in places; whilst it is fascinating to see his oeuvre, it was often rather a creepy experience too. I didn't know much about Beardsley as an individual before beginning, so in that sense I'm pleased that I picked this up. I far would have preferred to read something a little more impartial, however.

[Miz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really good reproduction of some of the more unknown or unusual illustrations by Beardsley, as well as some of the classics. The author carried a weird personal bias all the way through, dictating that Beardsley's prose was absurd and the characters in his drawings were marked more or less with 'evil'. Not really the general critical discussion I was looking for.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit more of a coffee table book than educational, but still awesome thanks to the plates of Beardsley's work. I prefer Stephen Calloway's book but he wrote significantly more on the artist and included more images.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful and strange mind he had!

Such intricate work! I wonder how long each piece took him, on average.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent selection of Beardsley’s work from various periods. Would have liked a little more context for some of the pieces, or perhaps a longer introduction.

[Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable mainly for the reproductions of Beardsley's drawings. I found the introductory text and the short commentaries that accompany each of the drawings to be only mildly interesting.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ave Atque Vale.